Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire in the Historic Third Ward on Wednesday morning.

The fire was at the former Palms Bistro and Bar on North Broadway. It's now called Bourbon & Tunns Tavern.

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WISN 12 News reporter Marianne Lyles said the fire started in the basement of the building, but firefighters don't know the cause yet.

"Turns out we had a pretty well developed and well-involved basement fire underneath the bar restaurant here," Milwaukee Fire Department Deputy Chief Terry Lintonen said.

Word quickly spread, and people turned out to watch.

"It's sad though. You hate to see anything happen anywhere, but especially since it's close to where you work or live. It's kind of crazy," said Jim Simon, who works nearby.

The thick smoke startled neighbors such as Joan Heinritz.

"I opened the window, and smoke came out of upstairs out of the chimney and the windows," Heinritz said.

There was a lot of smoke damage inside the building that was built in 1895, Lyles reported.

"Naturally, a building of that age, the construction of it being that long ago, we're concerned about remodels that may have happened, and wall spaces and areas that the fire could have traveled throughout the building," Lintonen said.